The dead black bear that was found in a plastic bag near a park in Arlington, Virginia over the weekend was illegally dumped by contractors, officials said Monday.

On Friday at 8:30 p.m., a plastic bag was reported near a walking trail in Spout Run Parkway, according to a press release from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. Police suspected there was a dog inside but instead found the body of a black bear.

"It's a very unusual incident," Chelsea Jones, Animal Welfare League of Arlington's senior communications specialist, previously told USA TODAY.

On Monday, the AWLA said officials had determined the bear's cause of death: a car accident. The bear was later illegally dumped, the AWLA said.

Transportation workers dumped bear over an overpass

According to the AWLA, at around 3:30 p.m. Monday, the AWLA was notified by the Department of Wildlife Resources that a company contracted by the Virginia Department of Transportation "took responsibility for the incident."

The bear was struck on an I-66 in Prince William County, the AWLA said. The transportation workers, who were not the people who hit the bear, were then called to the scene of the incident to remove the bear's body from the interstate.

The workers picked up the bear and then traveled to Arlington, where they "illegally dumped the bear over an overpass onto the Custis Memorial Trail," the press release said.

Arlington is about a 30-minute drive east of the county where the bear was recovered.

How was the bear found?

Jones said that a local resident found the black bear on the side of a walking trail in an Arlington park and reported it to the police.

Police originally thought it was the body of a dog, but realized it was e bear, which was at least several hundred pounds.

It wasn't removed from the scene until about 1 a.m. Saturday.

How often are bears sighted in Arlington?

According to Jones, there are bear sightings in Arlington around once a year, and the bear is usually on its way to find its own territory.

"They are not trying to hurt us, they're not trying to cause problems," Jones said. "We've never had an incident with any of the black bears coming through here."

She said Arlington hasn't experienced bears harming other animals or people's property either.

"We do believe that all living animals deserve our respect," Jones said.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz